Evaluate research on conformity to group norms.

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Transcript of Evaluate research on conformity to group norms.

Did an experiment investigating conformity with the autokinetic effect. It involved the participants judging how much they thought a dot of light was moving on a dark background. When the participant was in the room alone, they developed a judgemental norm of about 2-6 inches, which they consistantly stuck to. When the participant was placed in a room with other people, the showed a tendency to compromise with the other people. Strengths Lab study - easy to replicateLess outside factors influenced the experimentGenerated more research Weaknesses DeceptionNo ecological validitySubjectiveDemand characteristics The participants were all assigned a role as either a guard or a prisoner.The aim of the experiment was to determine how the participants would react to these rolesAs the experiment progressed, the participants became more and more engrossed in their roles. Strengths The experiment was very heavily controlled and regulated.The prison setting was made as realistic as possible, giving a little ecological validity Weaknesses Incredible ethical issuesDeceptionPsychological trauma Lab study - easily controlled; replicable; empirical results Strengths Gynocentric - cannot generalize Not ecologically valid (situation was unlike real life) Use of stooges (deception - unethical) Weaknesses Evaluation of Moskovici's study Minority opinion can affect majority opinion, but not to the same degree as majority influence wouldThere must be consistency in the minority opinion in order to alter majority opinion - attribution theory Conclusions from the study Experiment: To see whether minority participants could influence the majority to give an incorrect answer in a color perception test. Conformity evaluate research in conformity in group norms Sheriff (1936) Zimbardo(1971) Asch Moscovici by Adilah, Hylke & Olivia The participants were asked to judge the lengths of a series of lines as compared to other lines.When placed in a room with others who gave an incorrect answer, Asch found that 32% of these participants conformed and gave the wrong answer. Strengths As opposed to Sherif's experiment, there was a definite correct answerLab study Weaknesses Demand characteristicsNo protection from uncomfortable situationsDeceptionNo ecological validityCan't be generalizedBiased sampleOnly relevant at the time